1. Field of the Invention
This invention is generally directed to agriculture crop sprayers and particularly to such sprayers that are designed to be mounted to the three-point hitch of a farm tractor. The sprayers are of the type utilized for no till crop spraying and include a plurality of spray nozzles which are mounted within protective hoods or housings which are designed to enclose the spray nozzles to prevent the dissipation of chemicals being directed to kill weeds intermediate plant crop rows. These primary spray hood assemblies are mounted to support beams in such a manner that each assembly is vertically pivotable with respect to an implement tool bar to thereby allow the assemblies to traverse uneven terrain. Each primary spray hood assembly is also suspended from a support beam in such a manner that the pitch angle, from front to rear, of the assembly may be regulated.
The sprayer of the present invention further includes a plurality of secondary spray hood assemblies which are mounted intermediate the primary spray hood assemblies and which are vertically adjustable relative to a crop row. The secondary spray hood assemblies are utilized for confining insecticides, fungicides or other chemicals which are sprayed on the foliage of plants in a crop row.
The invention further includes additional sprayers which are mounted to the exterior sidewalls of the primary spray hood assemblies and which may include one or more nozzles for directing herbicides, fertilizers or growth stimulants adjacent to or onto the base of adjacent plants in a crop row.
The invention permits the simultaneous spraying of chemical herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, root growth stimulants and fertilizers without the chemicals being wind driven from one area to another so that the plants are not damaged and so that the chemicals are contained and not dissipated into the atmosphere.
2. History of the Related Art
Control of weeds in agriculture fields requires either mechanical cultivation to uproot and turn the weeds between adjacent crop rows or the application of chemical herbicides to destroy the weeds intermediate the crop rows. Large agriculture sprayers of the type designed to be mounted to conventional tractors are generally referred to as no till sprayers. An early example of an agriculture sprayer of a no till type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,580,145 to White. The sprayer disclosed in White includes a frame mounted to a tractor body from which a plurality of shoes or runners are pivotably supported. Spray nozzles are mounted to the runners and are oriented so as to direct a chemical spray towards weeds intermediate rows of agriculture crops. Unfortunately, such a spray device is not practical for use in actual field conditions wherein the chemical herbicides being sprayed to control weeds can often be driven by normal winds toward the base of the plants thereby causing severe damage to the crops which are planted closely adjacent the areas in which the herbicide is being sprayed. Further, the free release of toxic chemicals into the air, even though being directed toward a specific area, allows a significant portion of the toxic chemicals to be entrained in the air causing a potential health hazard not only to the farmer but to other individuals within the vicinity of the field being sprayed.
It has now been recognized that some control has to be provided to protect the plants in a crop row from being damaged by herbicides being sprayed between the crop rows. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,038,665 to Doerr, a no till sprayer for connection to the three-point hitch of a tractor is disclosed which includes a plurality of generally u-shaped elongated hoods which are mounted to a tool bar assembly. With this device, the sprayers are mounted intermediate the hoods for depositing herbicides in the area between crop rows. The hoods have vertically adjustable side baffles which could be raised or lower into fixed positions depending upon the height of the crop stand. With this type of spraying apparatus, it is possible to protect young plants from the effects of herbicides being sprayed between crop rows to some degree by enabling plants adjacent to the spray nozzles to be directly screened from the spray nozzles. However, the spray from the nozzles is easily driven by surface winds to the base and foliage of agriculture crops either forwardly or behind the protective hoods. Further, the sprayer does not provide any means for allowing the spray nozzle to effectively follow uneven surface terrains and, therefore, in some instances, spray can pass under the edges of the hoods, Also, in some instances, the hoods can actually be driven into the ground thereby causing damage to the sprayer. The sprayer of Doerr also does not provide any structure for effectively preventing the entrainment of toxic chemicals into the air.
A somewhat similar type of field sprayer is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,294,324 to Skaptason. The sprayer in this patent includes a plurality of hoods for protecting plants in a crop row from adjacent herbicidal sprayers mounted to deposit herbicide in the area between the crop rows. However, as with other prior art devices, a significant portion of the herbicidal spray between the crop rows is not enclosed and therefore is easily entrained into the air and accidentally directed against adjacent crop plants.
Other types of chemical no till crop sprayers have been designed to provide baffles or screens as opposed to housings for protecting crop rows when spraying herbicides to the area between adjacent crop rows. Some of these devices were designed to theoretically permit the simultaneous application of herbicides to the areas between the crop rows and insecticides or fertilizers to the area of the crop rows. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,439,948 an agriculture no till sprayer is disclosed in which sprayers are mounted to gauge wheels connected to a tool bar by a parallel linkage assembly. The sprayers are designed to be located either intermediate the exterior surface of adjacent baffle assemblies or intermediate a pair of baffles mounted to a common assembly. In this manner, the herbicides may be deposited between the inner surfaces of the baffle assemblies while the plant rows can be acted upon by spray nozzles mounted above the plant rows and exteriorly of adjacent assemblies. However, as with prior art spraying devices, the baffle system does not adequately confine the chemical herbicides which are being sprayed and it is easily possible for herbicide to be directed either directly to the base of adjacent crop or to be entrained within the air in sufficient quantity to damage adjacent crops. Further, with this type of sprayer both the herbicidal sprays as well as insecticidal, fungicidal or various chemical fertilizers are entrained in the air as the sprayer passes through the field and causing significant health risk to individuals and wildlife. Some additional examples of sprayers which utilize a baffle type closure system are disclosed in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,873,788 to Varamontes and 4,521,988 to Thacker.
A variation of the hood type enclosures for protecting crops are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,947,585 and 5,155,933 to Claussen et al. The spray shield assemblies disclosed in these patents are designed to provided enlarged u-shaped hoods of a size to extend between adjacent crop rows as opposed to being of a size to be mounted over a crop row. The hoods enclose a plurality of spray nozzles which are used to direct herbicide between the crop rows. The spray hoods are designed to be suspended from a fixed beam extending from a frame carried by the three-point hitch of a tractor. Although such hoods more adequately confine toxic herbicidal chemicals being sprayed in the areas between crop rows, the devices do not provide for the simultaneous spraying of crop rows with other types of chemical sprays including fungicides, insecticides and fertilizers. Further, the devices are not designed to allow tracking of the surface terrain and, therefore, in many instances, it is possible that herbicidal spray may pass under the bottom edge of the hoods thereby adversely effecting adjacent crop rows.
A final type of no till sprayer is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,505 to Kinder. The sprayer disclosed in this patent provides an enlarged housing in which the spraying equipment is disposed. In this manner, substantially any chemical being deposited is retained within the housing. Unfortunately, with this type of device it is necessary to provide a solid pivotable wall or flap along the entire length of the device in order to entrap the chemical being sprayed within the housing. Further, there is no breakdown in the housing which allows the effective application of different types of chemicals such as herbicides and fertilizers to be sprayed simultaneously to areas between the crop rows and to adjacent crop rows. Other examples of enlarged enclosed spraying devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,641,781 to McCrea et al., 4,646,971 to Rogers and 5,156,338 to Borlan et al.
Some additional examples of prior art devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,669,435 to Wheeler, 1,982,086 to Trueman, 4,213,505 to Jolley and 4,449,667 to Tyler.